Vapouround magazine ISSUE 21 - Page 97

“WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
ARE APPROACHING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
AND THOSE ARE CURRENT SMOKERS,
ADULT SMOKERS WHO NEED TO STOP”
Founder Matt Cohen said:
“I think it’s a great thing for the average vaper. It’ll
help them find the best deal whether it be from a
big brand in K Road or some smaller store in the
South Island. The big thing will be getting stores
involved and making it a community thing.”
Quit Group, a prominent stop smoking organisation
with a focus on helping Maori, Pacific peoples
and pregnant women, is also seeing increased
activity. From 1999 to 2015, the Group operated a
24/7 hotline called Quitline. The service currently
operates under Homecare Medical via the National
Telehealth Service. Quitline has seen a 30 percent
rise in calls over the last year from Kiwis trying to
quit, with 10 percent of them using e-cigarettes as
their preferred method.
The country now counts over 200,000 vapers. Like
Matt Cohen, entrepreneur QT Satchell started his
e-cigarette and liquid manufacturing company,
NZVAPOR, in response to the growing interest.
A staunch advocate of the industry’s place in
smoking cessation, Mr Satchell also calls for better
regulation and closer ties between the trade and
the government to keep vaping’s mission focused
and strong:
“We don't want non-smokers to start vaping, we
don't want children to start vaping, we want to
make sure that we are approaching the right
people and those are current smokers, adult
smokers who need to stop.”
Should the Bill get its required, top-down support,
the industry could blossom, as all the other signs
of a thriving new era are set in motion.
VM21 | 97